BEATEN SUSPECT IN RAPE DIES

Philip WattleyCHICAGO TRIBUNE

A suspect in the June 18 rape-slaying of 14-year-old honor student Priscilla Evans has died in the University of Illinois Hospital of injuries police say were inflicted by a band of vigilantes, including the girl`s brother.

Investigators said they would confer with the state`s attorney`s office to determine whether the beating suspects would now be charged with murder.

James Duffie, 24, of 1441 W. 105th St., one of two men charged with the Evans slaying, had been hospitalized since he was attacked by five youths with baseball bats several hours after the girl`s body was found near her home.

A hospital spokesman said Duffie was on a ventilator and semi-conscious at the time of his death Tuesday night.

Priscilla`s brother, Paul, and a friend, Andre Laughlin, both 17, were charged earlier with aggravated battery in connection with Duffie`s beating. A 16-year-old youth was also charged with aggravated battery in a juvenile petition, and two other suspects were still being sought Wednesday.

Sgt. Richard O`Connell, of the Pullman Area Violent Crimes unit, said detectives would confer with prosecutors to seek a warrant upgrading the charges against the trio to murder.

If signed by a judge, the warrants, along with a detainer order, will be filed at the Cook County Jail and the county juvenile detention center, where the youths are being held pending a July 10 court hearing on the lesser charges.

Priscilla, of 10123 S. Beverly Ave., was raped and strangled shortly after midnight on the day she was to have graduated from 8th grade at the Marcus Garvey School. Her body was found across the street from her home, and police said she was attacked while crossing abandoned railroad tracks on the way home from a neighborhood graduation party.

Duffie and Eric D. Spivey, 17, of 1426 W. 105th St., were subsequently charged with her murder after police investigated the circumstances of Duffie`s beating.

Police said the 16-year-old youth who is being held in connection with the vigilante action is believed to have been a witness to the girl`s slaying and participated in the attack on Duffie to divert suspicion from himself.

When Spivey was arrested he had two broken arms, which he told police he sustained after jumping out of a window to escape the Evans home, where he had been lured by the girl`s brother.